Debates of Nov. 23rd, 2023

Affordable Housing and Groceries Act

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

Order, order. We just had a great vote, and everything went really well, I thought. Let us continue that collegiality on this.

The hon. parliamentary secretary has the floor.

[Chris Bittle, Liberal, St. Catharines, ON]

Mr. Speaker, since this is time allocated, I am happy to be up here as long as they want me to be, through points of order. I am happy to be here until 11 o'clock or whenever the next series of votes happens.

The hon. member from Newfoundland, from the Conservative Party, was and still is yelling at the top of his lungs. I guess it is his first day here. He does not know that it is not his turn. He is from the island of Newfoundland. He is from the province of Newfoundland and Labrador—

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

When it is time for questions and comments, I will put the hon. member for Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame up first. I will make sure he gets an opportunity to ask the hon. member a question.

The hon. parliamentary secretary.

[Chris Bittle, Liberal, St. Catharines, ON]

Mr. Speaker, to be clear, I am sure the member for Avalon will back me up on this. It is the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, but I believe the hon. member is from the Island of Newfoundland proper. I am sure he will yell out something a little later.

Clearly, the embarrassment is real for what the Conservatives have done and how they have betrayed Ukraine. It is absolutely shameful.

[An hon. member]

Oh, oh!

[Chris Bittle, Liberal, St. Catharines, ON]

That is a good point from my colleague, Mr. Speaker, that MAGA politics are making their way into the Conservative Party. It is an embarrassment.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Chris Bittle, Liberal, St. Catharines, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to respond to all the comments. I was going to move on, but it is clear that the Conservative Party is getting upset any time we mention Ukraine. We cannot mention Ukraine, because they are going to get—

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

We have a point of order from the hon. member for Calgary Rocky Ridge.

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it is a rule in the House that we address the matter at hand, which is the bill up for debate. I would ask you to bring this member to order. We have had enough of this nonsense. He is spreading misinformation, which is not unlike what we see coming out of the Kremlin. I would like him to bring it back to the matter at hand.

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

We should all try to stick to the bill we are debating. We are later in the day than normal, so maybe people are getting tired.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. We are not allowed, according to the government's Speaker in the chair, to do something indirectly that we cannot do directly. This has happened over and over today, and now this speaker is challenging my Canadian-Ukrainian heritage on this side of the floor, as though somehow, because I made a choice in the House to vote a different way than he did, he has the right to stand here to challenge—

[Chris Bittle, Liberal, St. Catharines, ON]

Speak through the Speaker and not to me.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

I said “he”.

Mr. Speaker, he is challenging my heritage. My grandfather came to this country just before the Holodomor took place. I would encourage him to get off of his rant—

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

I want to shut this down as soon as I possibly can because I want to get on with the orders of the day.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Speaker, on the same point of order, I listened very attentively, and there was no challenge to the member's heritage. There was a challenge of her vote, and that is something that she—

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

I thank the hon. member for his intervention.

I will say that members should be judicious in their discussions here tonight and stick to the debate on Bill C-56 as it is before us. If there were fewer attempts to create a diversion in the House, that would be wonderful.

The hon. member for St. Catharines.

[Chris Bittle, Liberal, St. Catharines, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is funny because I have been sitting here all afternoon and not one Conservative member has actually talked about what is in the bill. Not one of them has, yet any point—

[An hon. member]

Oh, oh!

[Chris Bittle, Liberal, St. Catharines, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am responding to their heckles, and the hon. member for Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner is screaming at the top of his lungs because he does not want me to—

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. It is a common practice of the House to allow members to withdraw a comment when they make misleading or false statements.

The member said that no Conservative had addressed this bill in debate today. That is untrue. The member for Prince Albert addressed it quite well in his speech not that long ago. I invite the member to withdraw his comment and apologize for misleading the House.

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

I will say that the hon. member for Prince Albert did speak to it. The hon. member for St. Catharines could maybe withdraw just that piece and get back to the bill at hand.

[Chris Bittle, Liberal, St. Catharines, ON]

Mr. Speaker, that was the member who said that the government had no business in the place of housing. The speeches I have heard have not been relevant to the—

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

I did ask the member to withdraw that piece in which he said that no one has spoken to it because the member for Prince Albert has spoken to it.